
8.
What did Jesus declare to be the motive of true obedience?
John 14: 15, 21, 23, 24.
NOTE.—"If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments," is the Revised
Version.
"There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their
own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation.
Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they
seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires
of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing. When Christ
dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filled with His love, with the joy of
communion with Him, that it will cleave to Him ; and in the contemplation
of Him, self will be forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action... .
A profession of Christ without this deep love, is mere talk, dry formality,
and heavy drudgery."—Steps
to Christ,
page 49.
9.
How is love defined by the apostle? 1 John 5:3; 2 John 6.
NOTE.—"The fountain of the heart must be purified before the streams
can become pure. He who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keep-
ing the law is attempting an impossibility. There is no safety for one who
has merely a legal religion, a form of godliness."—The
Desire of Ages,
page 172.
10.
How is obedience again set forth as the evidence of love and
discipleship? 1 John 2:3-6.
NOTE.—"We may be active, we may do much work; but without love,
such love as dwelt in the heart of Christ, we can never be numbered with
the family of heaven."—Christ's
Object Lessons,
page 158.
"It is not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is done,
the motive underlying the action, that determines its
worth."—Testimonies,
vol.
5, p. 279.
It is the service of love that God values. When this is lacking, the mere
round of ceremony is an offense to
Him."—The Desire of Ages,
page 286.
11.
How does the apostle Paul set forth the relationship between
love and keeping of the law? Rom. 13:8, 10.
12.
In what language did the wise man set forth the whole duty
of man? What reason is given for the necessity of strict obedience?
Eccl. 12:13, 14.
NOTE.—The margin of the Revised Version gives, "The duty of all men."
13.
Why must our lives be regulated by the law of God? James
2:8-12.
14.
'How did Jesus summarize the two tables of the Decalogue?
How much of divine revelation is embraced in the law of God?
Matt. 22:36-40.
NorE.—"All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with
Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and
aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when
obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined
and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing his service. When we
know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual
obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through com-
munion with God, sin will become hateful to
us."—The Desire of Ages,
page 668.
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